The De Niro family has suffered an unimaginable loss. Robert De Niro‘s grandson Leandro De Niro Rodriguez has died, according to mom Drena De Niro. Drena—who is the daughter of the Ragining Bull star and ex Diahnne Abbott—confirmed the death of her “darling boy” in a heartbreaking statement on July 2.
“My beautiful sweet angel . I have loved you beyond words or description from the moment I felt you in my belly,” she captioned a photo of Leandro on Instagram. “You have been my joy my heart and all that was ever pure and real in my life. I wish I was with you right now. I wish I was with you . I don’t know how to live without you but I’ll try to go on and spread the love and light that you so made me feel in getting to be your mama.”
The 51-year-old actress, who shares Leandro with artist Carlos Mare, continued in a message to her late son, “You were so deeply loved and appreciated and I wish that love alone could have saved you. I’m so sorry my baby.”
Carlos has not publicly spoken out about the death. However, he did share a blacked out image on his Instagram page in the wake of Leandro’s passing, with many users expressing their condolences in the comments section. E! News has reached out to Robert’s rep for comment but hasn’t heard back.
Like his grandfather and mother, Leandro was an actor. Most famously, he appeared alongside Drena in 2018’s A Star Is Born. In the film, he played the son of Dave Chappelle’s George “Noodles” Stone, who was best friends with Bradley Cooper’s Jackson Maine.
Leandro also held acting credits in 2005’s The Collection and 2018’s Cabaret Maxime, both of which starred his mom as well.
News of Leandro’s death comes more than a month after he celebrated Mother’s Day with Drena. As seen in a May 14 Instagram post, the mother-son duo spend the holiday watching the 1974 comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore together.
“A Lil bit of Leo Lil bit of Mare,” Drena wrote, sharing photos of Leandro hanging out with his dad as well as the family dog. “Lots of memories of my soulmate ,fur baby Daisy. Today was a good day.”
Also in May, Robert welcomed a daughter named Gia Virginia Chen De Niro with girlfriend Tiffany Chen. The baby girl is the first for the couple and the seven child for the Oscar-winning actor.
Source: eonline
In other news – Dineo Ranaka opens up about living with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy and how it affects her
Radio and TV personality Dineo Ranaka has been receiving a lot of love and support from her fans after opening up about her mental struggles and suicidal thoughts in May.
On Sunday, 2 July, the Kaya 959 breakfast show host opened up once again about her condition after disclosing last week that she has been diagnosed with severe chronic depression. Learn more
